Rising Storm: Book 1
by Jack Storm 448
Summary: The tale of Jack Storm, a boy raised by pokémon, and his many and varied adventures across the known regions. Contains Christianity. Contains some mild violence. Constructive criticisms are welcomed. I don't own pokémon (just so you know.) PS: Special thanks to OseanSoldier and Matthais Unidostres for their continued support.
1. Humble beginnings

My dear Frodo...

Pardon me, wrong story.

This is the story of Jack Storm, a pokémon master; and more, but we'll get to that later. For now I think it best to start at the beginning.

* * *

It began in a forest in the Sinnoh region. It was not big enough, or close enough to a human city to be named by them, but to the pokémon who lived there it was known as Greenwood. It was a little cliché, but who's going to fault them? More specifically, our story begins in a little cave inhabited by a small family of lucario: Mother, Father, and a little riolu pup named Jason. They lived a happy life there with the other forest pokémon. Not a carefree life, but a happy life. Until one summer day...

"Dear, I'm going to get some more food," called the male lucario, "I'll be back in a while." Thus saying, he went out into the forest, passing by several forest pokémon on the way to his favorite foraging grounds. When he arrived he quickly took stock of the available food, then he gathered enough for himself and his mate (young Jason had not been weaned yet) and bundled it all up in a basket of long grass. On the way back he decided to take the 'scenic' route home.

Turning off the beaten path, he passed close to the lake at the centre of the forest. As he stepped into the clearing, he saw three poochyena stalking something. He felt like having a little fun, and wanted to help whatever they were stalking, so he put down the bundle and stepped out into the open. It was not a good day for the poochyena. *Slam!* *Smack!* *Thock!* After chasing the perpetrators away, he got his first look at what they had found. It was a human baby. A brief but heated mental debate ensued.

_"A human baby? How did it get here?"_

_ "More importantly, what do I do with it. should I eat it?" _

_"No! Of course not. I just saved it from being eaten."_

_ "But then what do I do with it?" _He took a closer look. Actually, the baby was a him, and couldn't have been more than a few months old.

_"About the same age as Jason,"_ he thought. The baby was wrapped in cobalt-blue robes that were much too big for him. His head was covered with pale yellow fuzz. What really caught the lucario's attention though, were the electric blue eyes staring back at him. As soon as he made eye contact the baby started to coo and reach for him.

_"He doesn't seem frightened by me at all. I wonder..." _

_"Don't be ridiculous. I can't keep it, it's a human!" _

_"What does that matter, we're all God's creatures. Besides, if I don't take him with me he'll die out here." _The father lucario then picked the baby up and rested it in the crook of his arm, where it soon fell asleep.

"Well that settles it," he said, "he hasn't got anyone else so we'll just have to take care of him ourselves."

* * *

He then raced home, barely remembering to pick up the basket of food on the way. When Father got home, the mother lucario was just coming out to look for him, fearing that something bad had happened; she could never have guessed what had actually taken place. Her joy at seeing him safe and sound was soon replaced by confusion at the blue bundle he was carrying so carefully.

"What have you got there?" She asked, with her hands on her hips. "Not another human knick-knack I hope."

"You could call it that," he replied, showing her the contents of the bundle, "but I get the feeling you'll want to keep this one." The kind female lucario gasped in surprise.

"What! How..." He gave her the ten second version, then she took the baby into her own arms and gently rocked it. This action dislodged a small golden disk from the bundle of fabric. The father stooped down and picked it up. It was about two inches in diameter, had a picture of a lightning bolt on one side, and two words on the other.

"Jack Storm." He read. The mother stroked the baby's face.

"Then that's what we'll call him. Jack Storm."


	2. Amazing discoveries

As the years went by Jack Storm grew up side by side with his pokémon brother Jason. Training, learning, and growing in faith and body. In fact he grew and matured surprisingly quickly. His foster parents found that within three months Jack could already walk on two legs, and six months after that he could run and play tag with the other pokémon (attribute it to lucario milk if you will.) A full year after Jack had joined the family he was three feet tall, and he and Jason started training in combat; A necessity for wild pokémon.

They usually trained against their other friends, but they trained against each other as well. The two brothers were not evenly matched, however. Jason had the abilities and instincts of a riolu, and so could beat Jack every time they sparred. By this point though, Jack had the intelligence of a ten-year old, and he learned with startling ease. He started copying his opponents' movements and techniques, and began winning increasingly often. And more than a few matches ended in a stalemate. Then, two and a half months into their training.

* * *

"I'm going to wipe the battlefield with you, human," shouted the young mankey against whom he was sparring.

"We'll see," replied Jack in his cool, calm, and collected manner which tended to aggravate the opposition. It worked.

"Argg!" exclaimed the mankey as he charged at Jack with Tackle. Jack just stood and waited... then gracefully sidestepped the attack, at the same time tripping his opponent who landed face first in the dirt. A crowd of young pokémon surrounding them cheered. The mankey got back up and faced Jack, who began to taunt him.

"Is that all you've got? My mother hits harder than you." This was of course completely true, but it still had the desired effect.

"Yargg!" This time Jack's opponent went in with Dynamicpunch. Not the smartest move because it takes a lot of concentration to pull off, and is therefore easier to dodge; which Jack promptly did. Mankey then engaged in Close Combat, which Jack avoided with some difficulty.

_"He's good. I'm not sure I could take him if he wasn't so angry. I'd better step it up a notch."_ Jack would never say this out loud of course. Instead he said,

"Ha! if that's all you can do, then I'm twice the pokémon you are."

"Argg; stand still and fight. You can't even use any moves!"

"Oh really," said Jack under his breath. Out loud he said, "Come and get me then, or is the mankey a little torchick?"

"YAAARRRGGGG!"

"Oh sorry, did I make you mad?"

Mankey charged at Jack, all caution thrown to the wind. Once again Jack let him get closer...

*BAM!* To the complete astonishment of all in the clearing Jack executed a flawless Counter that left Mankey on the ground unconscious. A shocked silence,... followed by tentative clapping, which tuned into applause that spread though the crowd like wildfire. The referee, a young machop, confirmed it.

"Mankey is unable to battle. Jack Storm is the winner."

* * *

Later that night, after a party thrown in Jack's honor, Jason confronted Jack about his new found power.

"Youmeanthatyou'vbeenabletousemovesforawhilenowand youdidn'ttellme?!"

Jack tactfully waited for his brother to vent... "Yes."

The young riolu stared at him for a second in stunned silence before replying with a very small, "oh."

Jason gained a thoughtful look and after a moment's reflection said, "alright. Just don't do that to me again."

"I promise," replied Jack. "Now, let's get some dinner."

"Right!"


	3. The adventure begins: P1

Now that his origins have been established, we can move on to a turning point in Jack's life.

It had now been exactly ten years since Jack Storm joined the lucario family. Jason had evolved into a lucario, but they still always ended up in a stalemate when they sparred. What's more, Jack had seemingly no limit to the number of moves he could remember. He could mostly use fighting, psychic, normal, and for some reason electric type moves. Presently he knew Counter, Agility, Mach Punch, Psychic, and Thunderbolt. He had trained in aura use as well, although he couldn't use Aura Sphere yet.

* * *

Early on a summer morning, Jack awoke and rubbed his eyes. He got up and found that his family were nowhere to be seen. He shrugged and put on has favorite blue robes. These were the same ones that he had been found in ten years ago, and they had fit him for four years now. They didn't seem to wear out or fade no matter how much he wore them. He just washed them and they came right back for more. It was a good thing too. Before that he had to wear clothes made from leaves, fur, and skins (don't ask.) After donning his curious apparel, Jack went to the lake to freshen up for the day, taking with him a small satchel.

The walk to the lake was relatively uneventful. Once there he stripped down to his loincloth and took a bath. Then he took a bone comb out of the satchel and tried (and failed) to groom his unruly golden hair into submission. He soon gave up, got dressed, and sat on the bank of the lake thinking, as he had done for the last two weeks.

He thought about the life he had here; peaceful, even monotonous at times. It was a good life, but sometimes he felt like he was ment to do more. He had found himself going on long walks more and more often, and on each occasion he walked a little further. Sometimes he even went so far that he left the forest behind. He thought long and hard about his tendency to wander, before deciding to put it on the back burner so to speak.

Jack took a leather-bound book out of his satchel. He had found both objects some years earlier, in the human town not too far from the forest. Jack sat down under an old oak tree, and began to read.

"_Acts chapter three. Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour..." _

And the ninth hour is also when Jack stopped reading and went home.

* * *

As he stepped into the cave the first thing he noticed was that it was dark; I mean darker than usual. The next thing he noticed was a delicious smell coming from deeper inside the cave. He'd been trained to recognise smells on, well... Smell; but this one was new to him. It was like... He just couldn't place it, but it definitely smelled sweet.

Jack ventured deeper into the cave, and it got even darker. Then he smelled something else, a smell he did recognise, and he heard soft breathing. Something clicked in his mind. he had read about something like this; something about... Just as the pieces started falling into place:

**"Surprise!" **A torch flared, and in the new light he saw his family and several of his friends standing around him. His mother came forward holding a large dark-colored cake, and Jason rushed up and gave him a big hug; of course minding the spike on his chest. After that, the party was a blur. Jack remembered playing some games with his friends, eating cake, (which tasted delicious, although he had no idea how his mother made it), and receiving gifts of many kinds; including berries, various books, and a somewhat worn backpack from his parents. This last gift intrigued him. Why would his parents give him a backpack? Unless... He decided to confront them about it first thing in the morning.

* * *

"Why did you get me a backpack?" It was too early in the morning for him to be tactful. His father turned to him with an understanding smile on his face.

"We've known for a while that you've been thinking about leaving the nest, we wanted to give you something to help you on your journey. In fact, the party yesterday was really as much a farewell party as a birthday party." Jack was somewhat taken aback,

"How did you know?"

"You've been taking a lot of long walks recently. And besides, it was pretty obvious from your aura." Jack mentally smacked his forehead. His mother came up to him and gave him a hug.

"It's normal for a young man your age to go out into the world, whether pokémon or human. We've been expecting this for months."

"I'm not sure yet whether I actually want to leave," Jack replied, escaping the hug. "I'll have to think about it some more."

Father put his paw on Jack's shoulder and said softly, "Whatever you decide, remember that we love you and want you to be happy." For the first time since he could remember, Jack's eyes began to water just a little.

"Thank you."

* * *

That night Jack lay in his bed and thought long and hard.

_"What do I really want do with my life. Will I ever really know..."_

_"THAT'S IT!"_ Jack sat up with a new revelation. "I don't know what the Lord has planned for me, so I'll ask him what to do." Jack lay back down, and prayed.

"Oh Lord, God, my Father. Please give me the wisdom to decide what to do..."

He prayed long into the night, and it seemed to him that, after a while, God began to speak to him as well; not with words, but with a new certainty of what he was going to do. In the morning, he told his parents what he had decided.

"I'm leaving today."


	4. The adventure begins: P2

The rest of the morning was spent telling the other inhabitants of the forest, packing what he wanted to take with him, and deciding where he would go.

"The town will be my first stop. I'll get some more supplies and plot the rest of my course from there." That was easy.

* * *

Jack left at noon. His friends gathered at the edge of the forest to see him off; Jason carried his bags along the way. If Jack had taken a closer look, he would have noticed an extra bag. He stopped and turned to hug his mother and father.

"I'll be back," Jack said with tears in his eyes. After a moment he turned to his brother who then gave him all the supplies, except one bag.

"What are you doing with that?" Jack asked, and then he realized...

"I'm coming with you of course." Jack stared at him with a little disbelief, a little gratitude, and a lot of objection. Jason stared back, with ironclad resolution. After a few seconds Jack realized that this was a battle he would never win. The disbelief and objection disappeared, and he embraced his brother who was a little stunned at first, but soon returned the embrace.

"You don't think I'd let you go traipsing all over the known world without me did you?"

Jack put his arm around his brother's shoulder. "I wouldn't dream of it."

To the sound much cheering and well wishing, the two brothers stepped out of the forest together. As they headed out toward the town they turned and waved one last time. They didn't look back again.

* * *

It took them about half an hour to get to the town. By this time they had seen enough wide open plains to satisfy them for a lifetime. Once in the town they first looked for a source of information which they found in the library. Jack was very glad that his parents had made sure he learned English as well as Pokéspeak. After a little research they found that the town was called Sandgem, and it resided in the region the humans called Sinnoh. They also found that by some amazing coincidence there was a professor here that could start them on their journey. They hastened to his laboratory, eager to get their journey underway.

*Ding ding* "Oh, hello there," said the young man at the desk, "you must be a trainer."

"No no," Jack replied. He had heard about trainers before; nasty people who caught pokémon in little devices and forced them to battle. (Not that they wouldn't anyway.)

"I'm no trainer, believe me," Jack corrected the man.

"Well then, come with me, and I trust that this lucario is with you?"

"Yes, he's with me, but..."

"Good, then bring him too. Right this way."

Jack and Jason looked at each other and shrugged. They followed the man down a hallway and into a large room filled with electronic equipment. On a table in the middle sat three strange-looking balls. An older man in a lab coat turned away from a monitor and addressed the man who had led them here.

"Ah, Rogers. What's the news?"

"This boy wants to become a trainer; he's already got a starter."

"Excellent," the professor then addressed Jack, "come over here, lad."

Jack and Jason were both somewhat shocked at the misunderstanding, but they didn't see what else they could do other than play along. So they stepped forward into the middle of the room.

"My name is Professor Rowan, what's yours?"

"Jack Storm sir, and this is Jason."

Rowan seemed quite pleased at this. "You've given him a name already, have you. I can see that the two of you are very close to one another."

Jack plucked up a little courage at this, and said, "we're like brothers sir."

"Yes, well. I assume he has a pokéball then?"

Jack remembered something about pokéballs, but he couldn't quite recall what they were for.

"No sir, I don't think so."

"Well then, here." The professor picked up a tray and gave it to him. The tray had six of those strange balls on it, as well as some other things he couldn't describe.

Jack picked up one of the balls, "What do I do with it?"

"Just tap Jason with it. Go on."

Cautiously, Jack did as he said.

You and I know exactly what's going to happen, but Jack had no idea. So when Jason disappeared with a flash of light into the ball, Jack was so startled that he dropped it. The ball rocked a few times, then stopped. Jack was horrified, but no one noticed.

"Good job," said Rowan, "now he's officially yours."

Jack managed to stammer, "H-how do I g-get him back out?"

"Just press the button on the front."

Jack dived for the ball and jabbed his finger at the lifesaving button. The ball opened and Jason reappeared, looking rather shaken. Jack released his breath when he saw that the lucario was unharmed. Then, realizing that the Professor was looking at him funny, he stood back up and regained his composure.

"Thank you Professor, but I really just wanted to ask which way I should go first.

"Oh yes, of course... Well, I think the first place you should go is Oreburgh City. I'll point it out to you."

The professor brought up a map of Sinnoh on a monitor, and pointed out Oreburgh.

"Thank you sir. Goodbye sir." Jack snatched the rest of the things from the tray and exited the building, trying to appear calmly. As soon as he got outside, however, he and Jason broke into a flat-out sprint, eager to get away from that place. When Sandgem town had faded from sight, they set their course for Oreburgh City. The adventure had begun.


	5. Friends, old and new

When it got dark they stopped and set up camp for the night. Jack figured they were about a fifth of the way to Oreburgh, which meant that they would be travelling for a good two days before they got there.

* * *

"What was it like?" Jack asked Jason.

"What was what like?"

"Being inside a pokéball."

"Oh, that. Well... It was sort of empty at first, but after a few seconds it... changed."

"Changed, how so?"

"Well, It started to... fill in, I guess. The emptiness filled in and became a cave. Not just any cave though, _our cave!_ The inside of the pokéball turned into our cave, just the way we left it. When I went outside, the forest was there too. It was amazing."

"Were there any other pokémon?" was Jack's next question.

"No, you could hear other pokémon and the sounds of the forest, but I couldn't see anyone. Then again, I wasn't in there that long." Jason smiled, "thanks again for getting me out of there."

Jack returned the smile. "Did you really think that I would just traipse across the known world without you?"

At this the two brothers laughed and embraced each other. "I wouldn't dream of it," finished Jason.

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPYHEAD!"

Jack's reflexes shot him out of bed like a cannonball. Jason put a paw to his mouth to stifle the guffaws that threatened to break through.

"It's a pity they don't let you start the olympic high jump lying down, you'd be unbeatable." After he said this the guffaws let themselves out all at once. Causing all the bird pokémon within half a mile to fly away.

"I'll get you for that." Jack threatened, smiling.

"Uh, oh." With no further warning Jack leapt at his brother. the poor lucario tried to dodge, but to no avail. Jason was then subjected to the most horrible torture imaginable.

"Ha,ha,ha. No, please stop! Ha,ha,ha,ha. Have mercy! Ha,ha,ha." Yes. Tickle torture.*Shudders*

When Jack decided that Jason had learned his lesson, he stoked the campfire and cooked them up some breakfast.

"How do you want your eggs?"

"Sunny side up please." Jason said, still giggling.

"Two eggs sunny side up. Dig in." Jason didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Later that morning they had made some headway, but they still had a long way to go. They decided to take a short detour though a nearby wood. This is where the fun begins.

"It's not anywhere close to as nice as our forest," Jason noticed.

"Well, not everyone can be as fortunate as us," replied Jack, "but I'm sure that lots of pokémon call this place home."

"Okay, but let's hope we don't meet any mean ones."

YES! He said it, so now I have official permission to make it happen. *Evil laugh*

"What's that buzzing sound?" Jason asked. His aura receptors rose as he concentrated, then his eyes snapped open, "duck!"

Not a moment too soon. Out of the bushes came two green pokémon locked in combat.

"Stop that!" Jack shouted. The two pokémon stopped and looked at Jack. He saw that one was a scyther, and the other a breloom. Neither of them looked happy.

They looked at each other. The scyther said, "let's finish this later."

The breloom nodded (a sight to behold). Then they both attacked the two brothers. The scyther headed straight for Jack with Fury Cutter and Jack had to use Agility to dodge.

"Why are you fighting us?" Jack asked as the scyther froze in amazement.

"You used a move!"

"Yes, I did. Now why are you fighting us."

"You can understand me too!?" By this point the scyther was finding it hard to stay upright.

"Yes! I can understand you. Now why are you fighting?"

This was too much for the poor bug type; it fell over unconscious.

Jack looked over to see how his brother was doing. Jason had breloom up against a tree and was threatening him with Metal Claw, Wolverine style. "One, Two..."

"That's enough. Let's get some answers out of him first." The movie-loving lucario let the frightened breloom drop to the ground.

Jack concentrated and said, "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep my friend here in check. Hows about you just tell me why you attacked us."

Cliché it may be, but it worked.

"You were in our way," the breloom said in a very small voice.

"Why were you fighting each other."

"We're in rival clans, we were fighting over territory."

"That's not all though, is it."

"What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean. The two of you were pulling your punches. You weren't trying to hurt each other; You were trying to escape."

The breloom looked at him for a moment, then broke down in tears. *sob* "It's true," *sob* "how did you know?"

"I have my ways," Jack said. Jason then used Aura to say, _"you did a good job of it too,"_ right into Jack's head.

Jack winked at him and sent, _"I learned from the_ _best." _Out loud he said gently to the breloom, "it's alright, why don't you tell us about it from the beginning."

* * *

The breloom turned out to be a captain in the ranks of his clan, and everyone just called him Cap. He and the female scyther, whose name was Katana, were orphans. When they were young they were close friends, but when two clans adopted them they were overjoyed, until they found out that they had to fight.

At this point Katana woke up and was brought up to speed. For the last year, they had snuck out and met up with each other under their clans' radar. They had planned to escape, and the battle the two clans were locked in at present was the perfect time. So they fought their way into the trees away from the battle, and when Jack yelled at them they had simply panicked.

"We're really sorry," Cap apologised.

"Well, you didn't do any harm to us," Jack said, "but you're going to have to hurry if you want to escape."

Cap looked at him, a little embarrassed, "well actually, I'm wondering if we can come with you. You are a trainer after all."

Katana looked at Cap in amazement, "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Hold on. Hold on. I'm not actually a trainer; I don't catch pokémon," Jack explained.

Jason held up a paw, "Well, actually... you are, technically, a trainer. You caught me, even if it was an accident."

Jack looked slightly sheepish, "well... in that case sure you can come with us, but I'm not putting you in pokéballs."

"Good, now let's get out of here!" Jason shouted as an angry-looking swarm of scyther came out of the dense trees.

Ten minutes of hard running later, and they had left the woods behind them.


	6. An unexpected battle

**Just so you know:**

**Katana's ability is Technician. Her moves are Fury Cutter, Vacuum Wave, Agility, and Quick Attack.**

**Cap's ability is Effect Spore. His moves are Energy Ball, Drain Punch, Mach Punch, and Headbutt.**

**Jason's ability is Steadfast. His moves are Metal Claw, Counter, Force Palm, Aura Sphere, and Bone Rush.**

* * *

The rest of the trip to Oreburgh was depressingly monotonous, so when the group arrived they were ready for some excitement. Oreburgh City consisted mostly of mines, factories, warehouses, and a small residential area which wasn't very exciting at all. For a boy whose entire life had been spent in a forest however, the tall buildings and dense population were quite overwhelming. Sandgem Town hadn't been nearly this big. A group of children running toward one of the large building caught their eyes, so the four of them joined the joyful crowd.

"Where are you all going?" Jack asked.

One of the kids replied, " Roark's been challenged. They're going to have a gym battle."

_"I wonder what that_ is?" Jack telepathically asked his brother.

_"I think it's something trainers do," _Jason replied.

_"I guess if I'm going to be a trainer 'technically', I might as well act like one."_

_"Like capturing pokémon who follow you around?"_

_"Not that much like one."_

Jason smiled at this and readied a witty retort, but forgot it as they stepped inside the building. It. Was. Huge!

* * *

Jack and his friends stood at one end of a room that seemed big enough to fit a wailord quite comfortably. The floor was covered with jagged rocks, several of which were bigger than himself. Underneath the rocks he could see white lines forming a rectangle, with a design in the middle that seemed familiar... Jack pulled out a pokéball; the pattern was identical. At the other end of the room a young man stood with a pokéball in his hand. A referee stood at centre field. He looked at Jack's clothes a little strangely, but he called to him anyway.

"Alright challenger, state your name and town"

"I'm Jack Storm from Greenwood, but..."

"THE BATTLE IS GYM LEADER ROARK VERSUS THE CHALLENGER JACK STORM FROM GREENWOOD TOWN. IT WILL BE A THREE ON THREE BATTLE, AND ONLY THE CHALLENGER IS ALLOWED TO SUBSTITUTE POKÉMON. THE BATTLE WILL BE OVER WHEN ALL POKÉMON ON ONE SIDE ARE UNABLE TO BATTLE. BEGIN!"

_"Great, just great. What do I do Jason?"_

_"It's a pokémon battle, but I don't think you're allowed to fight him yourself."_ Jason then contacted Cap and Katana._ "Do you want to fight?"_ The two green pokémon nodded.

"Alright then," Jack decided, "How would you like to go first Cap?"

Trainer Jack Storm sent out Cap. Gym leader Roark sent out Onyx.

"You can take the first move." Roark called.

"Alright then. Use Energy Ball!"

* * *

(Except for the first move in a battle, I'll just be putting in the pokémon's actions, not their trainer's commands.)

Cap charged up a crackling ball of green light, and fired it at Onyx.

Onyx moved surprisingly quickly and dodged it. The rock snake then gathered up Stealth Rocks and threw them all around the battlefield. The rocks sank into the ground without doing any damage, but Jack was wary of them nonetheless.

Cap charged in for Headbutt, but Onyx let out a mighty Screech that blew Cap backwards.

While Cap was off-balance, Onyx rushed at him with Double Edge and scored a direct hit, and to add insult to injury, Onyx's ability Rock Head prevented it from taking any recoil damage.

Cap got up and growled at Onyx. It wasn't a move but it still made the rocky looking pokémon cringe. Cap then jumped and launched a real attack. His claw like fists glowed green, and his short little arms extended to land a super-effective Drain Punch right on the rock snake's head, which he then landed on and kept on punching.

Onyx roared in pain and stirred up Sandstorm, which battered the small fighting mushroom trying desperately to hang on.

Cap couldn't hang on much longer, it was all or nothing. He charged up a glowing Energy Ball; at least this time he couldn't miss.

*BOOM* The explosion took out both Onyx and the sandstorm. Cap hung in the air, cartoon style, for a second before looking directly at the screen, "help me," and dropping to the ground.

Roark recalled his pokémon and said, "you did well Onyx, take a good rest. Now Golem, I choose you!"

Cap picked himself up off the ground and observed his new opponent. Golem was as rocky looking as Onyx, but round instead of long.

Jack called out, "Cap, do you think you can take him?"

Cap thought for a moment, then nodded.

Once again, Cap got the initiative and launched Energy Ball. But Golem fired Rock Blast and intercepted it in mid-air.

In the resulting dust cloud Golem used Defence Curl once, twice, three times. All Cap could do was try to figure out from where the next attack would come.

When the attack did come, it came in the form of Rollout; superpowered from all those Defence Curls. Cap could do nothing except try to remain standing as the Rollout hit him again and again. If rock type moves weren't weak against fighting types, Cap couldn't have taken such a beating. Jack was about ready to run out and save the little green pokémon.

But then Golem hit a rock which knocked him to the side just enough to miss the cowering breloom. As the ball of rock turned around for another pass, Cap acted out of instinct. *Slam!* *Crash!*

Golem was thrown into the wall by the desperate Headbutt, and before either Golem or its trainer realised what had happened, the fierce little green powerhouse had charged up an Energy Ball twice his own size.

***BOOM!***

"Looks like we need a new wall," Roark said in a very small voice. He then pointed Golem's pokéball at the pile of rubble, and recalled the unconscious pokémon into it. Cap smiled wearily, and then fainted.

Jack rushed forward and picked him up, carrying him back behind the field. Jack then gave him some water and a Oran berry and said, "you did great, you deserve a good rest."

Roark looked somewhat suprised, "time to bring out my last pokémon already? You're good, I'll give you that, but you won't beat Rampardos so easily."

Roark then sent out a large black and blue pokémon that Jack had never seen before. It walked on its powerful looking hind legs, and its front legs were short. What really caught his attention was its head; a blue dome ringed with spikes.

Jack turned back to his pokémon, "which of you wants to go next?"

Jason was about to volunteer when Katana piped up.

"I'll go next. Save Jason for later. I don't really think either of us could beat that thing single-handed, but if I learn it's fighting style I'll give Jason a chance."

"You had me at 'I'll go next'," Jack replied.

Round three, begin.

As soon as Katana stepped on the battlefield rocks shot out of the ground and hit her. She let out a startled "oof!" before regaining her composure and using Agility.

Ramparos responded with Focus Energy.

Katana used Agility again and then Fury Cutter, but somehow Rampardos dodged the attack.

Her opponent used Headbutt. And it was fast! Katana barely avoided the spikes on the side of its head.

Rampardos kept on attacking however, and each thrust of its head got a little closer to hitting.

Katana was hard put to keep on dodging and she didn't notice when Rampardos changed tactics. It's head began to glow and faster than the eye could follow it lashed out with Zen Headbutt, scoring a devastating super-effective hit. Katana was knocked across the room, but before she could get back on her feet, Rampardos charged in with its strongest attack.

Head Smash!

Jack turned to his brother after laying Katana beside Cap, "Jason, it's all up to you. You've got to avenge the defeat of Cap and Katana."

Jason looked at the two battered and bruised pokémon and nodded, "that thing will rue the day he lay eyes upon them."

Round four, begin.

It was not a good day to be Rampardos.

The moment the round started, Jason was off like a bullet. When Rampardos tried to use Focus Energy, Jason slashed it with Metal Claw. When it retaliated with Headbutt, Jason stopped it with Force Palm. Rampardos was barely fazed however. It launched a massive assault with Zen Headbutt, which Jason failed to dodge. Jason was, however, ready for it and avoided much of the damage. He feigned exhaustion and fatigue, and successfully drew Rampardos into trying to finish it with one hit.

"USE HEAD SMASH!"

As Rampardos closed in, all caution thrown aside...

Jason stood up straight,

and used Counter.

Rampardos ran into Jason's outstretched paw.

The lucario's eyes filled with righteous fury, "you shouldn't have hurt my friends."

The blow flung Rampardos into the wall, and through it.

Roark was speechless, he could do nothing but recall Rampardos and close his mouth. The referee was not quite as stunned.

"RAMPARDOS IS UNABLE TO BATTLE. LUCARIO IS THE WINNER, AND THE VICTORY GOES TO JACK STORM OF GREENWOOD!"

* * *

Jason rushed back to engage in a group hug with Jack, Cap, and Katana.

"We did it, we really did it!"

Roark came up to them, "you fought well, here's the coal badge as proof that you beat me." He then handed Jack a small metal object.

"There are seven other gym leaders you'll have to fight if you want to challenge the Sinnoh league though, and they're even tougher than me."

Jack took the badge and asked, "thanks, but what do I do with it?"

Roark looked at him in surprise, "Oh, just put it in your badge case for now."

Jack remembered one of the things he had picked up at Professor Rowan's lab. He took a small metal box out of his bag, opened it , and found that the badge fit nicely inside.

"Thanks," he said again. Then a boy about Jack's age came racing through the door.

"Sorry I'm late," he exclaimed, "I had to get one of my pokémon out of a tree. I'm ready for my battle now."


	7. The plot thickens: P1

Sorry for the seeming inactivity; I've been busy fixing up poor grammar, inconsistencies, and taking a good hard look at the plot line. From here on in you can probably expect at least one chapter a week. Okay, with that cleared up let's see what happens next.

Jack: No, please talk some more. Go on, take all the time you want.

Me: Hey! I didn't write you with a sense of sarcasm. Come to think of it, why are you even here anyway. Get back in the story!

Jack: Sorry to burst your bubble, but the time when you could tell me what to do is long gone.

Jason: And what am I, chopped pokémon food?

Me: Oh boy, this just got complicated. You readers should probably just start the chapter while I sort this mess out.

* * *

Once Jack explained what happened, everyone had a good laugh about the mistake. Roark let Jack keep the badge, and the original match was promptly rescheduled. Following the confusing experience Jack and company went to the Oreburgh City Library. Cap And Katana began browsing the Fiction section, while Jack and Jason picked out several large textbooks and a map of Sinnoh. The brothers then began to 'touch up' their knowledge of pokémon trainers.

The first thing they found was descriptions of the objects that Professor Rowan had given them; six pokéballs, an electronic pokédex, and a badge case which now contained the coal badge. They also found much information on what trainers did other than catch pokémon.

The brothers were just getting into gyms and the Sinnoh League, when Cap and Katana rushed over to show them something.

"Jack! Look at this," Katana said, holding up a graphic Manga, "it's a Science Fiction comic about a world without pokémon."

Jack took it and flipped through the pages, "interesting concept, but it looks kind of boring," he then handed it to Jason.

Jason took one look at it and flung it into the 'back on the shelf' bin, "that's not interesting, that's ridiculous; and boring," he added as an afterthought.

Cap dragged Katana away before she could attack the lucario, leaving the brothers to continue their research.

* * *

After two hours of soaking up all the information they could, Jack rented a room at the pokémon centre for the four of them. The room, however, had only a single one-person bed. An argument soon started over who would sleep on said bed, and who would sleep on the floor.

"Alright then," Jack decreed, "the three of us will sleep on the floor, and Katana can have the bed. Agreed?"

"Hold on a minute," Katana exclaimed, "I'm not some delicate, pampered little girl that I need to have a soft bed under me every night. You're the trainer, you should take the bed."

Jack verbally parried this with, "being in charge means serving those under you and making sacrifices for them; not just getting the best of everything."

"Then why not make a sacrifice in Jason's favor, he's your brother after all."

"For one thing I see Jason as my equal, not my subordinate. For another, you're the only girl in the group!"

"And you're the only human. What's your point?"

The argument went back and forth like this for a while. Cap was torn between siding with Katana, or helping Jack argue that she should get the bed. After a few minutes of this, Jason whistled to stop them both (a remarkable feat, considering that he had paws and a muzzle).

"How's about we just pull out the couch. Then both of you have a bed, and Cap and I will sleep on the floor. Right Cap?"

"Oh, umm, yeah! Right! That'll be good."

Jack and Katana looked at one another for a second and shrugged. "Okay."

* * *

That night, just before bed, Jack called the four of them together to discuss where they would go from here.

"I wanted to ask all of your opinions about this before I did anything. The thing is... I've decided to be a real trainer and do the things they do; challenge gyms, battle other trainers, and hopefully compete in the Sinnoh League."

Cap and Katana looked somewhat stunned, but Jason just raised his hand, "does this include capturing pokémon?"

"No, of course not! I'll never go that far." At hearing this the two green pokémon released their breath. Jason, however, looked a little skeptical.

"I won't!" Jack insisted, "I just wanted to know what you think about it."

Cap looked curious, "why do you want Katana's and my opinions?"

"Well, I've grown attached to you two, and we make quite a team. I know that Jason will follow me wherever I go; but I want to know, will you come with me?"

The two green pokémon looked even more stunned than before, this time Katana was the first to recover, "You mean, on your journey, as your pokemon?"

She then dragged Cap over to the other side of the room, and they started to discuss the options. The brothers respected their privacy and didn't listen in with telepathy, instead they waited. Eventually Cap and Katana came back over and told Jack what they had decided.

"Yes," Katana told him, "We'll come with you. For one thing we don't have anywhere else to go. For another we're liable to get captured by another trainer, and probably not as nice of one as you. Besides, we did make a pretty good team."

Jack was beaming by the time she got to 'For one thing', and by the time she was finished his smile stretched from one ear to the other. "Thank you, thank you so much. I promise you won't regret this." Having said this Jack pulled them all in for a group hug (minding Jason's spikes, and Katana's blades). The team then went to sleep for the night.

* * *

***BOOM*** The explosion woke the entire city. Jack shot out of bed narrowly missing Katana, who launched herself from across the room in a likewise fashion. The other occupants of the room didn't wake up quite as explosively.

"What was that?" Jack exclaimed.

Jason's Aura receptors rose as he concentrated, "I'm sensing lots of panic from downtown," he informed them. Without another word, the four of them raced out of the pokémon centre toward the downtown area. As they headed toward the disturbance they heard another explosion. People were coming out of their houses now, and a crowd of humans and pokémon were running in fear away from...

"Look at that!" Jack said staring in shock at the bird-like pokémon attacking the city, "It's Articuno!"


	8. The plot thickens: P2

Articuno flew low to the ground and fired Air Slash.

***BOOM*** A small building exploded, fortunately all the people had already evacuated.

A small group of trainers, including Roark, were attempting to stop the rampaging legendary, but they weren't having much luck. Their pokémon fired attack after attack into the sky, but nothing touched Articuno. Any flying types they sent out were promptly smacked down by its Ice Beam. Even the gym leader's pokémon were unable to stop it. All in all, they were doing little more than slowing the freeze pokémon down.

Jason didn't waste time wondering why it was attacking Oreburgh, "by the time that strategy works, Articuno will have caused far too much damage. We need to find another way."

Cap and Katana looked at him in confusion, but Jack knew exactly what he meant. The two brothers concentrated on the Aura around them. It didn't take them long to find Articuno, its aura was the brightest by far, but communicating with it was another matter. The legendary pokémon's mind was surrounded by an impenetrable mental barrier, and after several tries at both battering it down though sheer force, and slipping though nonexistent cracks in the wall, they were forced to give up.

Jack and Jason were equally astonished at the strength of Articuno's mental defenses. Jack stated what was obvious to both of them as their concentration reentered their bodies, _"it's uncanny; non-psychic types, even legendary ones_, can't usually maintain a mental shield that strong," Jack suddenly switching from silent telepathy to audible speech caused Cap and Katana to jump.

Jason, having returned his focus to his body already, replied verbally, "yes, we may have underestimated Articuno severely. If we can't communicate with it though, then we'll just have to chase it off somehow."

This train of thought got derailed by an Air Slash exploding not five feet away. Realizing that this was a time for action, Jack whipped up a blast of Psychic and knocked the wind out of Articuno (literally), while his brother hit it with Aura Sphere.

The freeze bird pokémon immediately locked on to them as a threat and fired Ice Beam. Jason dodged the attack with ease, but Jack had to use Agility to avoid it. He then charged up and launched a powerful Thunderbolt which, unfortunately, only clipped Articuno's wing.

Enraged, Articuno fired two extraordinarily large Air Slashes, showing everyone exactly why it was called legendary. Jack and Jason struggled to shift the projectiles with Aura, but to no avail. Cap and Katana just managed to tackle them out of the way before...

***BOOOOOM!*** Shrapnel flew everywhere, the place where they were standing was now a sizable crater, and Articuno was nowhere to be seen.

The four friends wearily picked themselves up surveyed the area. There were smoking craters in the road, chunks of ice everywhere, and several small buildings had been demolished. The damage was though, for the most part, repairable. Jack then noticed that people were looking at them in shock, he decided to high-tail it back to the pokémon centre.

* * *

Once there they got healed up, then quickly packed their bags, paid for the room, and left the city quietly. Once Oreburgh was out of sight Jack called a halt. The four friends set up a small campfire to cook something to eat. While they looked for sticks and twigs, Jack and Jason discussed matters that had been on jacks mind for a while now.

"Did you see it Jason; the way they looked at me, like I was some sort of freak."

"I'm sure they were just amazed at your prowess in battle, and worried about the hit you and I almost took."

Jack looked deeply distressed, "no, that wasn't it and you know it. They radiated fear, you must have sensed it, they were afraid of me."

Jason shook his head emphatically, "no, no, they weren't afraid of you! They were just scared that Articuno might come back."

Jack looked more miserable than before. In little more than a whisper," I read their minds."

A look of shock crossed Jason's face, followed closely by a look of despair.

"I read their minds!" Jack continued, shouting in anguish now, "and all I found was fear! Fear of me... a freak, that's what they called me in their minds. A freak," having said this, Jack fell to his knees and wept.

Cap and Katana heard his pained cries and rushed over to comfort him. As soon as Katana saw him on the ground crying, she threw her tough, tomboyish demeanor out the window. And while Cap and Jason stood around feeling helpless, she knelt and hugged him (minding her blades).

"hush, hush, it's alright Jack, it's alright. You're not a freak, you're a boy. You have friends here and a Father in Heaven who love you."

After a while Jack's sobbing slowed down and finally stopped. He got up and, eyes still red from crying, took charge of the situation.

"Alright, enough standing around. Cap, Katana, go get the camp site in order. Jason, this firewood isn't going to help me pick itself up. What do I pay you people for?"

The three pokémon were glad that Jack was back to... well, not normal exactly, but at least while he was working he didn't have time to cry. They greeted the return to work with a perfectly synchronized, "YES JACK STORM, SIR!"

Jack froze and turned around slowly, "did you all rehearse that?"

"NO JACK STORM, SIR!"

"Well I don't believe you," having said this, he turned on his heel and walked back to the campsite with a bundle of sticks.

* * *

After lunch, Cap and Katana volunteered to go find some berries, while Jack and Jason talked about... stuff.

"Alright, so where do we go from here?" Jason asked unfolding a map.

Jack looked at it for a while before deciding, "we'll go north," he pointed to a town marked on the map, "to Eterna City. It says that there's another gym there."

Jason looked a little anxious, "do you really think it's wise to visit another human city so soon after..."

Jack fiddled with a bit of grass, "yeah, well, about that... we really need to talk."

"You're right about that," Jason agreed, sitting down on the grass.

Jack sat down beside him, "I'm sorry I broke down on you this morning."

"That's alright, I guess it would have shocked anyone to be..."

"Yeah, that," Jack interrupted. "Look, I don't want people to be afraid of me, but the problem is that they have every right to be."

"Are you kidding me?" Jason laughed and ruffled Jack's hair, "you're nothing but a big softy that's what you are."

Jack couldn't help but laugh too as he pushed his brother's paw away, "oh I'm a softy am I..."

The lucario's eyes widened, and with amazing agility he somersaulted backwards, came up standing, and bolted for safety. However, he soon realized that his brother was still on the ground, laughing his head off.

"Oh ha ha, very funny," Jason sat back down, looking a little sheepish. "What about Articuno though, I still want to get to the bottom of that."

"Me too," Jack assumed a thoughtful look, "but I don't see what we can do about it right now."

Jason got back up, "I say that we move out for... what was it again?"

"Eterna City," Jack reminded him, getting up as well. He then shouted, "Cap, Katana, we're going."

The two green pokémon soon returned with a sack full of berries, and the team then set out for their next destination.

* * *

Jack: I'm not happy about you making me look like a crybaby.

Me: Don't be so sensitive, and can't you even let me tell them what we decided?

Jack: Oh fine, and thought it was a fairly good chapter anyway.

Me: Alright, Jack and I had a good long talk, and we have come to an agreement. He'll have a say in what I write, and a short section at the beginning and/or end of chapters to speak his mind. Neither of us will tell the other what to do, and neither of us will tear down the other's thoughts or opinions. And that's about all...

Jason: Excuse me.

Me: Oh yeah, and Jason will be entitled to a soft bed and a three hot meals a day, for as long as I use his name in my story.

Jason: Thank you very much.

Me: Don't mention it.

Jack & Jason: We already did!

Me: . . .

Me: See you next chapter, please read and review.


	9. Well, that was odd

Me: Okay Jack, so what do you want to do in this chapter?

Jack: Well let's see...

Jason: Training. We have to do some training, or how will we get stronger.

Jack: I can't argue with that logic, and how's about adding some other human contact. You know, we did get a review asking for an appearance by...

Me: DON'T GIVE IT AWAY! The one thing you must never do, is give away plot points. That's not a bad idea though... alright, we can do that. Hold on to your hats folks.

* * *

It was just before lunch on the third day since they left Oreburgh City. Jack and Jason were training against each other while Cap Katana did the same.

"One thing our fight with Articuno taught me," Jack grunted as he fired a Thunderbolt, "is that we've got to get a lot stronger before we can get answers."

Jason dodged expertly, then used Bone Rush. "I don't have any problem with training," the rod of energy hit Jack several times, "you never know when you might need to defend yourself."

Jack caught the last blow on his arm and used Counter, "I don't really think that'll be a problem," the blow pushed Jason back a few feet.

"Oof!" the steel type rubbed the point of impact, "that's going to bruise," he then launched an Aura Sphere in retaliation.

Jack tried to mimic the move, but only succeeded in summoning an unfocused blast of Aura that failed to stop the powerful projectile.

*BOOM!*

The blast caused Cap and Katana to stop sparring and rush over to see what happened. Jack got up and examined his chest, his robes were not even charred. He knew from experience that, except for some bruising, there would be no lasting damage.

Jason came up to him and put a paw on his shoulder, "that's the sixth time in a row I've beaten you, maybe you should spar with Cap instead."

"No." Jack's eyes sparked with determination, "it may have been the sixth time, but I now know why you're beating me so easily. It's all in the Aura, you're much better at using it than me. If I'm ever going to hold my own against an opponent as powerful as you, then we'll have to do a different kind of training."

Jason looked skeptical, "I'm not that strong myself, I may not be able to teach you much..."

But Jack was not going to be deterred, "then we'll get stronger together, but get stronger we must."

Jason slowly smiled, "I guess I'll just have to enjoy outclassing you while I can."

* * *

The next morning the brothers got up early. Really early.

"Jason," Jack protested, "the sun is still asleep, so why aren't we?"

"It's quiet now, it won't be once the sun is up. And before you ask, we need peace and quiet to meditate effectively."

"You don't need to sound so... awake."

As you may have guessed, Jack is only a morning person up to a point.

Jason led his brother into a grove of trees, all was quiet, all was still. The moon, reflected off the morning dew, lit up the clearing. It was the perfect place for meditation, but they were not as alone as Jason had thought; three pairs of eyes watched them from the shadows.

* * *

"Why are we watching them? He only has three pokémon."

"Yes, but one of them is a lucario you dolt, and a powerful one at that; considering the size of that explosion we heard. That kind of power and elegance would make me famous."

"I'm 'tinken more about how much green that black and blue beauty'll get us."

"Unless it turns us black and blue instead..."

"You make a good point, we'll have to plan this carefully."

* * *

Jason and Jack sat in the centre of the clearing from then unfilled the sun rose. Nothing disturbed them, except for three rapidly retreating Aura signatures. Jason didn't pay them any mind, they were probably just the proverbial early pidgeys after the worm. Little did he know how close that was...

When the first rays of sunlight entered the clearing, Jason got up and carried Jack back to their campsite. But when they got there, they were greeted by the sight of Cap and Katana tied up with chains in a cage. Jack woke up real fast, and the two brothers rushed to free their friends.

*POOF!* A cloud of smoke covered them completely, and when it cleared, Jack saw that Jason was trussed up inside the cage as well, and three figures were standing in front of it; a woman with long purple hair, a man with blue hairline, both of which had a red R on their shirts. A meowth stood on the cage, holding a remote.

"Who are you?" Jack shouted.

* * *

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" said the woman.

"It's yelling at me loud and clear," replied the man.

Woman: "On the wind,"

Man: "Past the stars,"

Meowth: "In your ear."

Woman: "Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace,"

Man: "Dashing all hope and putting fear in its place."

Woman: "A rose by any other name is just as sweet,"

Man: "When everything's worse our work is complete."

Woman: "Jessie,"

Man: "And it's James,"

Meowth: "Meowth, that's a name."

Jessie: "Putting the do-gooders in their place,"

James: "We're Team Rocket,"

All: "In your face."

* * *

Jack was momentarily stunned, he hadn't exactly expected the song and dance.

"Okay, so your names are Jessie, James, and Meowth, and you're called Team Rocket. But why do you have my friends in a cage?"

"Ha," exclaimed Jessie,"you still don't get it."

"Oh the boundless ignorance of twerps," replied James.

"We're takin dese pokémon for da glory of Team Rocket," finished Meowth.

Jack thought about it for a second, "no, I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I suggest that you let them out immediately."

"Ha, what makes you think you got a choice," Meowth jammed a button on his remote.

The cage rattled and... floated away? No, there was a hot air balloon, shaped like a meowth's head, attached to it. Team Rocket jumped into the basket, and started to take off. Jack weighed the options, and decided that time was of the essence so subtlety would have to wait. He fired a blast for Psychic at the balloon.

*POP* The would-be escape vehicle plummeted. Jack managed to gently lower the cage to the ground with Psychic. The thieves weren't that lucky and hit the ground hard, unfortunately they recovered quickly.

"Those balloons don't come cheap, twerp," shouted Jessie.

Meowth, however, looked thoughtful, "how did you bring us down anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," she insisted, taking out a pokéball, "What matters is that you're going down with us twerp. Yanmega, Sonicboom."

Before the attack even got close, Jack leapt straight up to dodge. While he was still in mid-air, he fired a low-power Thunderbolt that scored a direct hit and paralyzed Yanmega. Team Rocket was almost as stunned as their pokémon.

Jack grinned, "Meowth was asking the right questions. If you had let me answer, you would have known to stay out of my way."

He concentrated on the ambient Aura around him, focused it into one point, and fired.

*BOOM!* It wasn't an Aura Sphere, but it was still more than powerful enough to send them flying.

"We're blasting off again!"

* * *

Jack lost no time in freeing his friends, all it took was some fiddling around with Psychic inside the locks.

"Ouch!" Jason yelped in pain as he rubbed his wrists where the chains had bitten him, "who were they anyway?"

"Apparently they were called Team Rocket, they're pokémon thieves, and they aren't very bright; but they sure know how to hog-tie a lucario," Jack said, snickering.

"Humph," grunted Jason, "It's alright for Cap and Katana; Katana has a hard exoskeleton, and Cap's a mushroom, he can bounce back from anything."

Cap shrugged, "It's true."

Jason continued, "All I've got to protect me is fur."

"And all those rippling muscles," Jack said, still giggling.

"Yeah, well none of this would have happened if you had kept us all in pokéballs," Jason said, suddenly anxious to change the subject.

Jack groaned, "not that again! I thought I made this all very clear, I'm capital N, capital O, capital T, NOT, going to put anyone in a pokéball, that was nothing but an accident. And that's final!"

After that outburst, the group had breakfast, packed up, and hit the road in complete silence.

* * *

Me: Well, did that satisfy your sufficiencies?

Jack: Well, Team Rocket was just as dumb as I remember them,

Jason: And we got a little bit of training done (emphasis on "little").

Jack: And I see that I'm still holding fast to my beliefs about pokéballs.

Me: Yes, for now. *evil laugh*

Jack: *shudder* I asked you not to do that...

Me: Oh, sorry. Anyway, that's chapter nine for all of you out there, as always please read and review.


	10. The good, the bad, and the adorable: P1

Jack: This is intolerable! We haven't met any new pokémon since chapter five, this situation must be remedied.

Me: Don't worry, we'll find plenty of pokémon soon, just be patient.

Jack: Humph, patience is not one of my strong points.

Jason: I balance you out that way.

Me: Maybe some training would help you pass the time.

Jason: Good idea, I knew there was a reason I liked you.

Jack: Oh no, did you have to start him off...

Jason: Come on you big softy, you know the saying; spare the rod, spoil the warrior. *drags Jack out of the room*

Jack: Help meeeeeee...*voice fades*

Me: He'll be alright. Now then, let's start the chapter.

* * *

The next day they started a new regimen of training, starting with meditation at 5:30 for Jack and Jason. Then, once the sun rose, all four of them read the Bible together until 7:30, and then took half an hour for breakfast. After breakfast, they all participated in two hours of physical exercises ranging from jogging, to push-ups, to shadow-boxing. At 10:00 sharp, they packed up, and hit the road.

At noon they stopped for a quick lunch, but were in for a surprise.

Jack bit a chunk out of a large berry, "mm, this is good! What kind of berries are these Katana?"

"I don't know the name, but I know for a fact that they're good to eat."

As they were eating though, they heard a loud scream. Instantly they were on their feet and ready for anything. Jack and Jason scanned the area around them and found at least four distinct Aura signatures heading towards them; three of them were pokémon, and one was human, and there was indistinguishable fuzz around the human that indicated full pokéballs.

It wasn't more than thirty seconds before a young kirlia and dratini came crashing out of the undergrowth, and straight into Jack's leg.

"Oof," exclaimed the kirlia, then she looked up. "EEP," she cried before tightly hugging the dratini for protection, "please, don't hurt us."

Jack slowly got down on his knees, "shush shush, it's alright, I won't hurt you..."

Suddenly a lairon crashed out of the bushes as well, the kirlia screamed in terror. The large pokémon roared at them, but a command came from the trees,

"Lairon, stand down."

Lairon instantly stopped roaring and stood still. A boy about Jack's age with dark purple hair walked out of the shadows.

"Who are you," Jack demanded, holding the two frightened pokémon close to him," and why were you chasing these pokémon?"

"The name's Paul, and I was going to catch them; now get out of my way."

Jack stiffened at his superior tone, "I don't think so. If you want them, you'll have to go through me!" On the last word, he shot up straight and assumed a battle stance.

"If that's how you want it, then fine," Paul pulled out two pokéballs, and recalled Lairon into one of them. The other he pointed at Jack, "a one on one pokémon battle, winner takes all."

Jack thought for a second, then shrugged, "alright, but I'm still going to kick your behind. Jason, would you like to do the honors?"

Jason grinned savagely, "with pleasure."

Cap and Katana sat on the ground behind Jack, Jason stepped into the makeshift battlefield, and Paul sent out his pokémon, an absol.

The absol looked pretty strong, but also looked like she had lost a few fights recently; there were scars and burns scattered all over her body, and her fur was not quite white, as if it hadn't been properly washed for a while. But the worst thing was her eyes, sunken and full of fear. Looking at her made Jack's fury overtake his judgment, "one more thing, winner gets the opponent's pokémon too."

Both Jason and Paul looked at him in shock, but Paul was apparently either very dumb, or very confident, "I accept."

Jack hoped he was dumb.

* * *

Jason made a silent plea to God, _"please let us help this poor soul."_ Then the battle was underway

"Absol," Paul's command was cold and emotionless, Absol winced, "use Razor Wind."

Jason didn't even have time to think of dodging, the attack hit hard. He got to his feet, a little shell-shocked, and had just enough time to use Counter as Absol slammed into him with Slash. His inherent resistance to normal types decreased the damage, but it was still a powerful hit.

Jason aimed the backslash at Absol's feet, but was surprised to find that her feet weren't there anymore. From across the battlefield Absol fired another Razor Wind, which scored another direct hit. At this point, Jason was longing for it to be over, but this was one fight he couldn't lose.

He got up again just in time to see Absol charging in with another Slash, but this time he wasn't backing down. He met the attack with Metal Claw, and got hit in the side with Sucker Punch.

"Oof!" The hit knocked the wind out of him, and was soon followed up by another Slash. Jason was at the end of his rope.

Absol launched a brutal Psycho Cut and Jason knew that if it hit him, he wouldn't get back up. In desperation, he tried something new. Gathering all his remaining strength, he slammed a powerful Force Palm into the ground.

*BOOM!* The shockwave blew Absol off her feet, and into a tree.

Before she could get back up, Jason rested his Bone Rush on her neck and said gently, "If you know what's good for you, play dead."

"Get up," Paul demanded, "now!"

Absol flashed Jason a grateful look, then her head dropped and she stopped moving.

* * *

Jack smirked in satisfaction, "I believe the winners are clear, and to the winners, go the captives."

Paul pulled out Absol's pokéball, "I don't have time for a weak absol," he pressed a button on it and a beam of blue light hit her, "but maybe you can put it to good use."

It was then that Jack realized, Paul wasn't overly confident, or mentally challenged, he just didn't care about his pokémon. He felt his temper rising again, and he found himself walking over to Paul, "What did you just say?"

"I said that you might have a use for an absol, even a weak one."

"I don't 'use' pokémon, and I hate it when humans treat pokémon like slaves."

Paul looked unconcerned by Jack's tone, "It's not like they have feelings, they're just animals."

Jason growled, low and menacing, and Cap and Katana bristled with anger. "You just crossed the line," snarled Jack.

"You can't threaten me," Paul informed him, "who do you think you are?"

"Buddy, I'm Captain Jack Storm, " he grabbed the arrogant, selfish trainer by the collar, lifted him two feet off the ground, and slammed him into a tree, "Savvy?"

Absol opened one eyelid and watched the show.

"If you want to live, then don't ever let me hear you call pokémon 'animals' again," Jack threw him to the ground, "now get out of my sight!"

Paul, all traces of arrogance gone, raced out of the clearing as though chased by ghosts. Jack breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't really want to hurt anyone, even Paul.

"Well, I'm glad that's over. You can stop playing dead now Absol."

She opened her other eye and got back up, but she still looked frightened. Jack wondered at this, why did she still look like she expected to be hit? He sighed, he supposed that she had been badly treated for so long, that the concept of freedom was unknown to her. She expected him to be as bad as Paul, the thought made him sick. But then he remembered what had started the battle in the first place. He looked at the last place he saw the two pokémon, but they weren't there.


	11. The good, the bad, and the adorable: P2

"Kirlia, Dratini," Jack called in pokéspeak, "Where are you?."

Cautiously, two heads popped out of the bushes and looked around, "is the bad human gone?" Kirlia asked.

"Yes, I chased him away."

"Okay." The two young pokémon ran out of the bushes, "Auntie Katana told us to hide until you and Uncle Jason had gotten rid of him."

Jack looked at Katana in disbelief, "Auntie Katana? Uncle Jason?!"

"I had to tell them something."

Kirlia hugged one of his legs, and Dratini curled around the other.

"She told us that you were a good human, and would protect us from the bad one."

Jack looked at them in desperation, then back at Katana, "Katana, you know we can't keep them. They have homes and families here, and..."

Kirlia cut him off, "actually... we don't have a home, just a hole in a tree. And our Momies and Dadies were captured by bad people a long time ago..." she started to cry into his robe.

Jack was horrified; taking pokémon way from their children, he couldn't even imagine... Yes. Yes he could imagine it, as much as he didn't want to believe it, there were people out there even worse than Paul. People who catch pokémon to sell for their own personal gain, without any regard for the pokémon themselves.

"There there now," he said, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around them, "it'll be alright, we can be your new family if you want."

The two young pokémon looked up at him, "you'll be our new family?" Kirlia asked.

"If you want, you can come with us and we'll take care of you. Katana can be your auntie, and Jason, Cap, and I will be your uncles."

Kirlia beamed at him from ear to ear, "Yes, yes please. We'd love that."

Jack found himself smiling too, she was just so cute, so innocent. Then he realized something,

"do either of you have names?"

Kirlia looked curious, "of course, I'm Kirlia, and she's Dratini."

"But what if we meet another kirlia or dratini, how will you know who I'm talking to?"

"Oh," she gained a thoughtful look, then looked up and did the puppy-dog eyes at him, "could you please give us names?"

Jack laughed, he couldn't help it, she was just so... he couldn't even figure out what it was, but she had lots of it.

"Sure, I'll call you... Wendy, you look like a Wendy for some reason." He turned to Dratini, "and as for you... you'll be Aura, yours is one of the strongest I've seen." And it was true; for her age and species, she had a remarkably strong Aura signature.

Wendy's smile stretched from ear to ear, she jumped into his arms and hugged him, "oh thank you Uncle Jack, thankyouthankyouthankyou."

"Yes, thank you. Uncle," said Aura. Jack almost jumped, he realized that she hadn't spoken since he met her; she sounded... older, more mature than Wendy. He decided to get to the bottom of that later.

He mentally berated himself, he must be getting forgetful in his old age. He turned to Absol, who had watched the entire time. Jason was sitting beside her, and she didn't look quite as scared as before.

"So," Jack asked, "what about you?"

Absol took a deep breath, "what about me."

"Well, do you have a name, or should I just call you... Lucy?"

She smirked at him, "Actually, Lucy sounds like quite a nice name."

Jack's expression must have been pretty good, because 'Lucy' actually cracked a smile, "Yes, I'm coming with you too. Jason's been telling me all about you, and your vendetta with pokéballs."

Jack started to object that she didn't have to come with him, but she cut him off, "look; for one thing, you won me fair and square from Paul, and you have my gratitude for that. For another, if I don't come with you, then what will I do? I don't know my way around here, and plenty of trainers come through these woods; for all I know the next one might be as bad as Paul. Right now, going with you is by far my best option."

Jack sighed, she was right, going with him was her best option; but her tone told him that he was the lesser of two evils in her opinion.

Katana smiled, "well, I'm glad to see some girls joining the group, I was getting lonely."

Jack and Jason looked at each other, "do you have the same sense of foreboding as me?" Jason asked.

"If by foreboding, you mean a feeling that we won't have enough sleeping bags for everyone, then yes."

* * *

That problem turned out to be minor, Cap and Katana were more than happy to sleep on the ground, and Wendy and Aura shared one. Over the next couple days they stayed in the same general area, and the new arrivals got the VIP treatment.

Jack and Jason spent two hours at a nearby lake, meticulously washing and combing Lucy's fur. She was a little surprised that they would go to all that trouble for her, but when Jason started to massage her back she found herself enjoying it against her will. The lake was warmed by the sun, and was quite comfortable. As they washed her, however, they found more and more scars, and Jack's anger rose with each one.

"I'll make Paul pay for every stripe," Jack promised.

Lucy protested however, "I don't hold a grudge against him for the past, all I have to worry about is the future."

Jack felt his anger cool, "I'll never do anything to hurt you."

She didn't say anything to that, but just relaxed into the lukewarm water.

* * *

Every morning while the others trained, Katana spent time with Wendy and Aura, teaching them various things that they would need to know. She could only teach them so much, however, so Jack decided to buy some school books for them as soon as possible. Once he found a way to make some money of course.

All in all, it was the best time that any of the newcomers could remember. But once Lucy's fur was blindingly white and shiny, and Wendy and Aura were as well-educated as currently possible, and everyone was feeling at the top of their game, Jack and Jason decided that it was time to get a move on for Eterna City once again.

* * *

Me: So, three new friends, and one new enemy. How do you like them apples?

Jack: Well, it feels more like we're a family than a team...

Me: Is that a bad thing?

Jack: Not in the slightest. I rather think that Katana likes playing mother as well...

Jason: I remember Lucy's face when I gave her that massage, she really enjoyed it despite herself.

Me: I think it'll take a while before she trusts you completely.

Jack: Yeah, but Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes.

Me: So, that's my third chapter in as many days, I should probably be worried about deterioration of quality or something like that. Please read and review, and don't hesitate to pick out any mistakes you find. See you next chapter.


	12. Abide with me

Me: Sorry for the inactivity, I've been severely swamped.

Jack: That's not exactly an explanation...

Me: Whatever. So Jack, how was Mattias Unidostres' 100th Story Event?

Jack: It was... Memorable. I must say; the palace looked amazing, the food was very good, and the crowd was lively. It was definitely my kind of party, even if Keldeo didn't recognize me.

Me: I'm glad to hear that you had fun, and recognition will hopefully come with time. Anyway, I've got one more filler chapter up my sleeve, and I'm not afraid to use it. Let's get started.

* * *

**Just so you know:**

**Lucy's ability is Super Luck. Her moves are Razor Wind, Slash, Sucker Punch, and Psycho Cut.**

**Wendy's ability is Trace. Her moves are Confusion, Teleport, and Magical Leaf.**

**Aura's ability is Marvel Scale. Her moves are Thunder Wave, Extremespeed, and Dragon Rage.**

* * *

_"Where am I?"_ Jack couldn't tell, but it looked like he was underwater. He tried to move but he couldn't, it was like he wasn't in control of his body. His mind was cloudy, he couldn't think straight enough to wonder why he wasn't drowning. Then he felt something, a presence touching his mind.

_"HELP ME!"_

* * *

Jack shot out of bed and only missed the ceiling by inches. Landing on his feet, he looked around quickly before remembering where he was; the pokémon centre in Eterna City. He glanced at the clock, 2:19 AM. Everyone else was still asleep; except for Lucy. She was sadly looking out the window, but his abrupt awakening caught her undivided attention.

"What are you doing up?" she asked with tears still in her eyes, "can't a girl get any peace and quiet around here?"

Jack sat down on his bed, shivering. He blankly stared off into space, and tried to tell himself that it was just a dream; but he wasn't very convincing. He'd been having these dreams for a few days now, but this was the first time that he had heard anything. 'Help me,' help who?

Lucy stared at him for a minute, she still had conflicting opinions about him. Granted, he could communicate in pokéspeak and even use pokémon moves, and he did treat her well... There was still something though, something in the way. Years and years of cruel slavery had taken a toll on her body, and her mind. It felt like she had always been a slave, she could barely remember the time when she was free. Everyone she'd ever loved had either been cruelly taken away from her, or had betrayed her. It was only a matter of time before... And yet, as she looked at him now, he seemed frightened, alone, fragile. She knew that look, the look of fear. She saw it every time she looked at her reflection, but she had never seen him look like this before.

He had told her about the Lord the day after he caught her, while he meticulously washed her fur. He had even taken them all to the church in a small town they had passed through three days ago. She had conflicting opinions about his God too; if there was a God, then why had he let her suffer all these years? What kind of God could be so cruel? She just felt so alone.

Jack contemplated his dreams some more. He just couldn't make himself believe that they were just that, dreams. He was starting to wonder if he was losing his mind. He still felt the cold grip of fear around his heart, so he did the one thing he could think of to calm down. He sang.

"Abide with me, fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail, and comforts flee; help of the helpless, Lord abide with me."

It was a quiet hymn that he had heard at the church they visited. And as he sang, another voice joined in...

"Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day, Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; change and decay in all around I see, O Thou who changest not, abide with me."

Jack was surprised as Lucy hopped onto his bed, laid her head on his shoulder, and started to cry softly. After a moment, he wrapped an arm around her.

"There there now," he said softly, his own problems forgotten, "why don't you tell me all about it."

* * *

They sat there for a long time as Lucy told her story. She couldn't remember much of her childhood, except that she had a mother, father, and older brother who had always loved her. But one day, her mother went off to gather berries, but never returned. Not long after, a group of people, who she now knew were poachers, found her den and shot her father. They then caged the two of them and sold them to different trainers on the black market. She never saw her brother again. For years and years she was passed from one trainer to another; each one abandoned her, each one pretended to be kind just to get her to come with them, and each one had proved to be worse than the last. Sometimes their other pokémon were sympathetic towards her, but more often they viewed her as little more than a nuisance, and sometimes they mistreated her worse than the trainer. Eventually, she wound up in a pokémon daycare after her last trainer had abandoned her for being weak. Six months she stayed there, and she made plenty of friends. It was the best time she could remember, until the day she got 'adopted' by Paul. None of her 'friends' tried to help her, none of them cared that she was leaving. This last event, and the torture she endured at Paul's hands, firmly cemented in her mind that she couldn't trust anyone. No one cared about her.

By the end of the tragic tale, Jack was crying softly as well. He pulled Lucy into a warm hug.

"All of that is in the past," he assured her, "nothing but a bad memory, it can't hurt you anymore. All that matters now is the future."

Lucy snuggled into his embrace, and cried on his shoulder, "sometimes, I just don't see anything worth living for."

"You have me now."

"You'll hurt me eventually, everyone has."

Jack sighed, "not everyone, there's one person who has never left your side once in your life. God loved you from before you were born. He has always, and will always take care of you. He'll never leave you and neither will I."

Lucy began to cry again, but this time they were tears of relief, tears of joy. Jack pulled her even closer,

"trust me; I'll never hurt you," he whispered, pouring his heart and soul into the words.

"Never."

* * *

In a few hours, Jason woke up to meditate with Jack. He garnered much amusement from the sight of Jack and Lucy with their arms/front legs around each other, fast asleep. He quickly weighed the options, lamented the lack of a camera, and decided to wake him up before the others saw this. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to heckle him a bit.

"Jack," Jason said, shaking his brother awake, "it's time to get up."

Jack woke up slowly, "Who? What? Jason!?"

The lucario smirked, "so, did you and your girlfriend make up?" Jason found it hard to meditate that morning,

with a black eye.

* * *

Jason: *rubs eye* You didn't have to be so sensitive.

Jack: You brutally attacked my dignity, I was merely defending it.

Jason: Defend against this...

Me: Knock it off you two, we're recording.

Jack: So, have you got any more 'filler chapters' that we should know about?

Me: That depends. If the readers want more action, then I'll give them some. If they want more fleshing out of the characters, then I'll work on character development more.

Jack: And if they want both?

Me: . . .

Me: Then, I'll have to figure something else out. All of you out there, please review and give me your opinion.


	13. What just happened

Jack: Hello out there. Due to circumstances beyond our control, our regular host could not join us today. Please enjoy this chapter as if he were here to give a long, boring speech at the beginning like usual.

* * *

**Just so you know:**

**This area is for the stats of pokémon that joined the team in the previous chapter, and other things that you should know. The stats of pokémon that are battling in the current chapter will be shown when they enter the field, if they have not already been shown. This helps keep me honest.**

* * *

Jack entered the Eterna City Gym with determination in his eyes which Jason mirrored. His pokémon friends followed behind him at a respectful distance, knowing that most people didn't see pokémon as equals. The gym leader, Gardenia, entered from the other side, and they both took their respective positions on the field.

"THE BATTLE IS GYM LEADER GARDENIA VERSES CHALLANGER JACK STORM OF GREENWOOD TOWN. IT WILL BE THREE ON THREE, AND ONLY THE CHALLANGER IS ALLOWED TO SUBSTITUTE POKKÉMON. THE BATTLE WILL BE OVER WHEN ALL POKÉMON ON ONE SIDE ARE UNABLE TO BATTLE. BEGIN!"

As before, the referee's voice rang out signifying the start of the battle. Jack's adrenalin surged, there was nothing like a battle to get him pumped (even when he wasn't the one fighting).

Gardenia smirked at him, "I heard you beat Roark's Rampardos with one pokémon."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," he replied, "Katana drew out Rampardos' battle style, then Jason shoved it up his snout."

The gym leader laughed at this, "spoken like a true warrior, but you won't get past me so easily. Turtwig, go!"

"You think that was easy? Katana, you're up!"

* * *

**Katana's ability is Technician. Her moves are Fury Cutter, Vacuum Wave, Agility, and Quick Attack.**

* * *

The two pokémon faced each other. Both Turtwig and his trainer knew that the bug/flying type had a severe double advantage, but they were still going to give it their all.

"You can go first," said Jack.

Gardenia smirked, "an offer you may regret. Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!"

The small turtle pokémon shook up a cluster of leaves and shot them at Katana.

She in turn used Vacuum Wave which knocked the attack away and scored a direct hit on Turtwig. She then followed up with a super-affective Fury Cutter.

At least, it would have been super-effective, had not Turtwig summoned a Grass Knot which sent her sprawling. While the mantis pokémon was down, he followed up with a Leech Seed that wrapped around her; constricting her and draining her energy. Before she could think, the turtle pokémon slammed into her with Tackle, doing sizeable damage.

Katana struggled to get out of the vines in which she was ensnared, but was hit with another Tackle for her troubles.

She hit the ground again, and rolled up against a tree. Even though she was very resistant against grass, the Leech Seed still did its job; she was constantly taking damage, and Turtwig was getting constantly healed.

This was not good.

Turtwig waited until he was completely healed, then launched one final Tackle which knocked Katana out cold.

Jack rushed out onto the battlefield, picked the fallen pokémon up, and carried her back to the others. Speaking of which, they were all speachless. Katana? Taken out by one pokémon?! After only landing one hit?! The thing hardly seemed possible, she was the strongest of them all, aside from Jason...

"I'm going next," Jason stated. His tone left no room for argument.

* * *

**Jason's ability is Steadfast. His moves are Metal Claw, Counter, Force Palm, Aura Sphere, and Bone Rush.**

* * *

The moment that the refferee started the second round, Jason was off like a blue bullet. His Metal Claws flashed in the morning sun as he sought to avenge his friend's defeat. Turtwig used Grass Knot again, but the lucario was wise to that trick and skillfully dodged the hazard. One direct hit, and glancing blow to the legs was all he got; Turtwig was fast! Jason stumbled to a halt as he realized that his target was no longer in front of him. He turned around just in time to get hit in the face by Tackle.

Shrugging off the attack, he struck back at the retreating grass type with Bone Rush, landing a direct hit on the turtle's backside. This flipped Turtwig on his back and opened him up to the fierce Force Palm that pounded him into the ground.

Turtwig soon righted himself however, and fired a Razor Leaf attack that seemed to score a critical hit, and blew Jason off his feet. Jason got up slowly, feigning weakness. Turtwig, sensing exactly what Jason wanted him to sense, charged in with one more Tackle.

And ran right into Counter.

Gym leader's Turtwig fainted. Gym leader Gardenia is about to send in Cherrim; would you like to switch pokmon?

"Jason, you think you can handle the flower?"

Jason assessed his condition; he was tired from his bout with Turtwig, but he could still keep going. "No problem," he replied.

Once again, as soon as the round began he was off. But once again, Gardenia had a few surprises up her sleeves.

To his astonishment, Cherrim stopped Jason in his tracks with Protect, knocking the wind right out of him. Cherrim then used Grasswhistle, and sent Jason fast asleep before he could even get his breath back. Then the blossom pokémon, who up until this point had been curled up in its petals, unfolded itself and used Sunny Day.

Jack knew what was about to happen, he had trained against many grass types back home. He knew that if he was right, Jason would be out for the count. As Cherrim started to build up energy, his fears were confirmed. Quickly breaking the rules (maybe), he sent a very loud telepathic message to Jason.

_"WAKE UP, NOW!"_

Jason instantly shot awake, just in time to see a Solarbeam heading right for him. With all the speed he possessed, he jumped straight up; the attack missed him by inches. Unfortunately it then carved a hole in the floor next to Jack, which he had to leap to the side to avoid.

"Sorry about that," Gardenia said a little sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Jack replied, "it's your floor. Jason, Aura Sphere!"

Knowing what he was going to say beforehand, Jason already had an Aura Sphere ready to use. As soon as Jack uttered the last syllable, he flung the potent blue orb at his opponent; but to no avail. The blue shield of Protect stopped it cold. The attack did, however, succeed in making a large cloud of smoke. Sensing an opportunity, Jason rushed in with Metal Claw and, using his Aura sense rather than his eyes to see, landed several direct hits on Cherrim. As the last blow fell, however, Cherrim played its trump card (no, not the actual move).

As Jason swung his arm to deliver one last slash, Cherrim used Protect once again. Jason's clawed paw met the blue force field, and the force field won.

Jason backed away out of the rapidly dispersing cloud of smoke, clutching his aching paw. After a split second, he rushed right back in with his other one outstretched to land a Force Palm; the only move he had that 'might' be able to get through another Protect. The blossom pokémon waited for him to get close, then it shook up a veritable storm of flower petals and launched them at Jason in a move known as Petal Dance.

The attack stopped Jason in his tracks; his eyes were obscured by the petals, and they were constantly hitting him from all sides. Then, just as the petals began to fall back to the ground...

*flash* *BOOM* A lance of light slammed into him with the force of a truck, and then exploded in his face. Cherrim, tired from using Solarbeam again, and confused from using Petal Dance, stumbled around the battle field in a drunken manner. But Jason was much worse off. The two powerful attacks, combined with the damage he had sustained in his battle with Turtwig, had taken their toll, and Jason fainted.

As Jack carried his brother back behind the field, the other pokémon stared at each other with shock and fear on their faces. First Katana, and now Jason? Who was this girl, that she could take out the strongest of them with only one pokémon knocked out? This was impossible. Jack was on the verge of surrendering, in order to avoid putting anyone else in harm's way.

"I'll go."

Everyone stared in shock at the source of the small but determined voice.

"I'll go," repeated Aura, "I can do this."

Jack shut his jaw, "but Aura, you're just a child! I won't put you, of all people, in this kind of danger."

The dratini remained steadfast, "it's not all that dangerous at all, actually. She's not trying to kill me."

Jack tried to come up with an argument, but was interrupted by the referee, "are you going to send out your next pokémon, or concede defeat?"

Jack got up and started to say, "I'll con..." but he never said the rest, because the referee beat him to it, "ROUND FOUR, CHERRIM VS. DRATINI, BEGIN."

Jack stared in horror at the sight of Aura on the battlefield, but once again he was too slow. Cherrim, who had recovered from its confusion, launched a Solarbeam at the young pokémon. However, Jack's horror quickly changed to one of pure amazement as Aura easily dodged the attack, and then shot in at incredible speed and tackled Cherrim right in the face. Following up by pushing off of Cherrim, spinning through the air, and landing in the exact place where she started, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust and a knocked out Cherrim to show that she had ever moved at all.

Gardenia recalled her pokémon with a look of shock that mirrored Jack's, "what... just happened?"

Aura turned to Jack with a smirk, "I told you I could handle it, now are we going to do this or not?"

Jack's look of shock, slowly turned into a wide grin and a bellowing laugh. "Alright then, let's finish this!"

* * *

**Aura's ability is Marvel Scale. Her moves are Thunder wave, Extremespeed, and Dragon Rage.**

* * *

Gardenia sent out her last pokémon with a look of resignation. Jack understood, in his research he had realised that it was a gym leader's job to be defeated by strong trainers. They expected to lose, and they knew how to deal with it. But this was not a time for philosophy, this was a battle. Focus!

Gardenia's last pokémon was Roserade. Jack had seen and fought a roserade before, he'd have to watch out for those poison type moves. On the other hand...

it was probably not going to be a big deal.

Roserade opened the round with Poison Jab, rushing in at a startling speed. Aura waited for it to get close, then unleashed a fierce Thunder Wave. The poor grass type didn't even have time to blink before it was completely paralysed. As soon as her opponent stiffened up, Aura slammed into it with Extremespeed. Roserade went flying into a tree, and Jack began to realise that Aura outclassed the gym leader's pokémon, even more than the gym leader's pokémon overpowered his.

Roserade got up and made one last attempt. It shot a Weather Ball that assumed the form of a blistering fireball thanks to Cherrim's Sunny Day.

With a look akin to pity on her face, Aura opened her mouth and used Dragon Rage. The blast of purple flames overwhelmed the Weather Ball, and Roserade. When the smoke cleared, Aura was the only pokémon standing (or slithering? I don't know.)

The battle was over.

* * *

After receiving the Forest Badge, he explained as best he could that he had no idea that Aura was so powerful. Jack and co. then went to the local pokémon centre and rented a room. They unpacked their supplies and then, since it was still early, they went out into the town to have some fun.

Jason and Cap headed off to the Eterna Museum. Lucy allowed Wendy to ride on her back, and they went to see some of the other exciting things in the city. And Katana stayed in the Pokémon Centre for some reason. Jack, however, picked Aura up in his arms and took her aside into a corner of the Centre.

"Now then," he asked sternly, "what just happened?"

* * *

Jack: And I expect an answer too. So, this was a pretty long chapter, and I'll probably... *I jump onto the set*

Me: What's the big idea?

Jack: Oh! You're back! What a nice surprise.

Me: Back? Back?! You locked me in the closet!

Jack: I did no such thing, I did you a favor by hosting this chapter while you were gone.

Me: Why you little... *Starts chasing Jack*

Jack: Uh oh! sorry folks, I gotta run. Please drop a review or two, it might take his mind off me.

Me: Give me that. Come back here!


	14. A few problems: P1

Me: This is the single dumbest thing I have ever heard. I can't just change the viewpoint right in the middle of the story!

Jack: What do you mean 'right in the middle? From where I'm standing, this is just the beginning. It's not like I'm asking you to change it forever. I just want to try it out, and if the readers like it, then maybe we can keep it that way.

Me: In my opinion, the middle of a story is anywhere between the first five chapters, and the last five chapters. And what if they don't like it, what then?

Jack: Then feel free to change it back. Come on, what do you have against it anyway?

Me: Well for one thing, I'm disinclined to acquiesce to any request of yours, after the stunt you pulled last time.

Jack: Okay okay, my bad. But can't we at least run it by the readers? You know, get their opinions and _then_ maybe try it?

Me: *sigh* Fine, I'll put a poll up on my profile; if the readers want to try a new viewpoint, they can vote on it there. Now then, let's start the chapter already!

* * *

Aura stared up at Jack from her perch in his arms. After the display at the Eterna gym, Jack wanted some answers.

"What was that back at the gym?" He asked.

Aura looked at him innocently, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Jack sighed, "Aura, why didn't you ever tell us? You never train with us, even when Wendy does her cute face at you; and now you just explode with power out of nowhere. What's going on?"

Aura stared at him for a while. It was hard for her to look dignified when Jack was carrying her in his arms like a baby, and after a while she gave up.

"Fine," she sighed, sounding much older suddenly, "I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't use me like Paul used Lucy. I didn't want to reveal my power to you because I thought you might... I don't know, treat me like a tool and not a friend. I know now that I was sorely mistaken; and you preparing to forfeit the battle rather than, 'put your friends in harm's way' as I believe you said it, put the final nail in my fear's coffin."

Jack was more than a little stunned at this explanation, and even more by the change in her voice. It had instantly gone from the cute, high-pitched voice of a child, to the deeper, wiser tone of a much older girl. While he digested all the new information presented to him, Aura simply curled up and went to sleep. Hardly surprising, considering that she had just fought two high level pokémon, after not training for several days.

Jack had been standing there for a good five minutes with Aura asleep in his arms, when...

*Scream!*

The sound snapped him out of his thoughts, and woke Aura up in an instant. He could recognize that sound anywhere,

Wendy was in trouble.

* * *

He didn't waste any time figuring out where the sound was coming from, he sent out a mental probe more powerful than anything he had ever done before. He instantly locked on to Wendy and Lucy, and both of their aura signatures were shot through with fear and panic.

Aura was hard pressed to keep up with him. He ran like he had never run before. All passersby saw was a blue lightning bolt, followed closely by a much smaller, and lighter blue streak of light. He had pinpointed their minds to the other side of the city,

_"why are they so far away?"_

As far away as they may have been, Jack and Aura reached the spot within seconds. And what they saw there sent a deadly chill up Jack's spine. Wendy was on her knees, sobbing over a pokéball. Jack saw a glint of light as another ball flew towards Wendy. Not wasting time for thinking, he launched himself in the way of the ball, and caught it in one hand. Wendy looked up at him, but he was focused on one thing only.

"Hey, what's the big idea," called the trainer who threw the ball, "I was going to catch that kirlia."

Jack gave the trainer a look that would have frozen lava, melted steel, and/or curdled fresh milk; it was more than enough to shut him up. The trainer looked about the same age as Jack, which meant he was probably a little older. Besides him was a small orange pokémon that Jack recognized as a monferno. At the moment, it was a little confused at the turn of events.

Jack bent down and picked up the pokéball that was on the ground. He didn't need to open it to know that Lucy was inside.

The trainer plucked up the courage (or gall) to protest, "Hey, I caught that absol fair and square."

Jack saw that getting angry would be counter-productive, so he remained calm, " and now you are going to release her."

"Why should I?"

Jack mentally winced, it was a fair question, "she's my friend, now release her."

The trainer looked skeptical, "If it was your pokémon, then why didn't my pokéball just bounce off it?"

Jack had no idea what he was talking about, but it probably had something to do with pokéballs. "She's my friend, not my pokémon, I don't keep her in a pokéball."

The trainer was still skeptical, "how do I know you're not just trying to get a free absol?"

Jack thought about this, then he realized that he had a perfect witness. "Catch," he said, tossing both pokéballs to the trainer, "now, come with me."

Jack picked up Aura and Wendy, who was still crying, and started walking. Not seeing what else he could do, the trainer followed. Jack led him through the city, until they reached a building that was familiar to both of them; the Eterna Gym. They headed inside and didn't take long to find Gardenia, she was just presenting the Forest Badge to a young trainer.

"Thank you for the badge, come on Turtwig," she said before leaving.

Gardenia turned around and saw the two trainers, singling in on Jack as the more noticeable "Oh, back for a rematch already, or is this just a social call?"

"No, just a bit of a misunderstanding," Jack replied, "do you remember what pokémon I had with me when I challenged you?"

"Of course. You had those two, the kirlia and dratini, and also a lucario, scyther, breloom, and an absol."

Jack smelled victory. He addressed the trainer, "please let her out."

With a resigned look, he did so. As soon as her paws touched the ground, Lucy bolted over to Jack, put her front paws on his shoulders, and licked his face. Repeatedly. This of course caused him to drop the two smaller pokémon, but they were too overjoyed at seeing Lucy safe and sound to care much.

"Lucy," Jack said, trying not to laugh with joy, "get off me please."

She did so immediately, and instead curled up at his feet. And just to prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt, "Gardenia, is this that absol that I had with me before?"

"No doubt about it, I've never seen another absol with such a sleek and shiny coat."

Wendy jumped for joy and hugged Lucy's neck.

The trainer sighed in resignation, "I guess that settles it, she's yours." Saying this, he pulled out the pokéball and held down the button. The blue light startled Wendy, but when it cleared they were both unharmed. Jack let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

"sorry about that," the trainer said, sheepishly, "please forgive me for all the trouble I've caused."

Now that Lucy was safe, Jack found no reason not to forgive him, "apology accepted, there's no real harm done. My name is Jack Storm."

"Mine is Nicholas," he replied, smiling, "I wish we'd met in more favorable conditions though."

"No harm done," Jack repeated. Nicholas actually struck him as an easygoing kind of guy, and friendly too. What really made Jack warm up to him though, was the emotions he could sense in the mind of his monferno; happiness, contentment, he was even a little protective of his trainer. Jack took a little peek into Monferno's recent memories, and saw that Nicholas really was kind and caring towards his pokémon; he treated them like friends, just as Jack did. Although Nicholas couldn't speak to them, when they tried to tell him something, he tried to understand them.

After a mere second of shuffling through Monferno's memories, Jack found himself saying, "Maybe we'll meet again. You're challenging the gyms, right?"

"Yeah," Nicholas replied enthusiastically, "and I've already got two badges. I'm headed to Veilstone City tomorrow, do you want to come with me?"

Jack seriously considered it, but then he remembered why he was staying here, "I would like to, but I'm actually looking for a job here. I haven't got any money."

Jack was curious as to why Nicholas was staring at him in shock, "What?"

"You don't have any money?" He asked Jack incredulously, "Why not?"

Jack really couldn't answer this, he didn't want a repeat of Oreburgh, "I haven't been all that successful lately, that's all. I'll climb out of it once I get a job."

The trainer still looked worried, "Okay, I guess." Then he noticed the clock on the wall, "3:24? I've got to run, take care of yourself"

"See you later," Jack called after him, before turning to leave the gym himself. However, he was stopped by Gardenia.

"Hey, Jack," she called, "if you're looking for a job, you could do some work around here."

Jack was astonished, "Really, here?"

"Are you any good with plants?"

"I should think so," he replied gratefully, "thanks for the offer, I'll certainly think about it. See you later."

He then exited the gym once more and, with Wendy and Aura riding on Lucy's back, set his course for the pokémon center. Then he thought of something...

"Who wants to tell Jason?"

* * *

"CAPTURED! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, CAPTURED?!"


End file.
